One of the most important literary works of 

ancient India, the Ramayana has had a profound impact

on art and culture in the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia with the lone exception of Vietnam.
The story ushered in the tradition of the next thousand years of massive-scale works in the rich
diction of regal courts and Hindu temples. It has also inspired much secondary literature in various
languages, notably Kambaramayanam by Tamil poet Kambar of the 12th century, Telugu
language Molla Ramayanam by poet Molla and Ranganatha Ramayanam by poet Gona Budda
Reddy, 14th century Kannada poet Narahari's Torave Ramayana and 15th
century Bengali poet Krittibas Ojha's Krittivasi Ramayan, as well as the 16th
century Awadhi version, Ramacharitamanas, written by Tulsidas.

Ramayanic scenes have also been depicted through terracottas, stone

sculptures, bronzes and paintings.[69] These include the stone panel at Nagarjunakonda in Andhra
Pradesh depicting Bharata's meeting with Rama at Chitrakuta (3rd century CE).[69]

The Ramayana became popular in Southeast Asia during 8th century and was represented in

literature, temple architecture, dance and theatre. Today, dramatic enactments of the story of
the Ramayana, known as Ramlila, take place all across India and in many places across the globe
within the Indian diaspora.

Hanuman discovers Sita in her captivity in Lanka, as depicted in Balinese kecak dance.

In Indonesia, especially Java and Bali, Ramayana has become a popular source of artistic

expression for dance drama and shadow puppet performances in the region. Sendratari
Ramayana is the Javanese traditional ballet in wayang orang style, routinely performed in the
cultural center of Yogyakarta. Large casts were part of outdoor and indoor performances presented
regularly at Prambanan Trimurti temple for many years.[70] Balinese dance
dramas of Ramayana were also performed frequently in Balinese Hindu
temples in Ubud and Uluwatu, where scenes from Ramayana are an integral part of kecak dance
performances. Javanese Wayang (Wayang Kulit of purwa and Wayang Wong) also draw
from Ramayana or Mahabharata.
The painting by the Indonesian (Balinese) artist, Ida Bagus Made Togog depicts the episode from the
Ramayana about the Monkey Kings of Sugriva and Vali; The Killing of Vali. Rama depicted as a crowned figure
with a bow and arrow.

Ramayana has also been depicted in many paintings, notably by the Indonesian (Balinese) artists

such as I Gusti Dohkar (before 1938), I Dewa Poetoe Soegih, I Dewa Gedé Raka Poedja, Ida Bagus
Made Togog before 1948 period. Their paintings are currently in the National Museum of World
Cultures collections of Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Malaysian artist Syed
Thajudeen also depicted Ramayana in 1972. The painting is currently in the permanent collection of
the Malaysian National Visual Arts Gallery.

In popular culture[edit]
Multiple modern, English-language adaptations of the epic exist, namely Ram Chandra
Series by Amish Tripathi, Ramayana Series by Ashok Banker and a mythopoetic novel, Asura: Tale
of the Vanquished by Anand Neelakantan. Another Indian author, Devdutt Pattanaik, has published
three different retellings and commentaries of Ramayana titled Sita, The Book Of
Ram and Hanuman's Ramayan. A number of plays, movies and television serials have also been
produced based upon the Ramayana.[71]

Stage[edit]
Hanoman at Kecak fire dance, Bali, 2018

One of the best known Ramayana plays is Gopal Sharman's The Ramayana, a contemporary

interpretation in English, of the great epic based on the Valmiki Ramayana. The play has had more
than 3000 plus performances all over the world, mostly as a one-woman performance by actress
Jalabala Vaidya, wife of the playwright Gopal Sharman. The Ramayana has been performed on
Broadway, London's West End, United Nations Headquarters, the Smithsonian Institution among
other international venue and in more than 35 cities and towns in India.

Starting in 1978 and under the supervision of Baba Hari Dass, Ramayana has been performed every
year by Mount Madonna School in Watsonville, California.[72] It takes the form of a colorful musical
with custom costumes, sung and spoken dialog, jazz-rock orchestration and dance. This
performance takes place in a large audience theater setting usually in June, in San Jose, CA. Dass
has taught acting arts, costume-attire design, mask making and choreography to bring alive
characters
of Rama, Sita, Hanuman, Lakshmana, Shiva, Parvati, Vibhishan, Jatayu, Sugriva, Surpanakha, Rav
ana and his rakshasa court, Meghanada, Kumbhakarna and the army of monkeys and demons.[citation
needed]

In the Philippines, a jazz ballet production was produced in the 1970s entitled "Rama at Sita" (Rama
and Sita).

The production was a result of a collaboration of four National Artists, Bienvenido Lumbera's libretto
(National Artist for Literature), production design by Salvador Bernal (National Artist for Stage
Design), music by Ryan Cayabyab (National Artist for Music) and choreography by Alice Reyes
(National Artist for Dance).[73]

Plays[edit]
 Kanchana Sita, Saketham and Lankalakshmi – award-winning trilogy by Malayalam
playwright C. N. Sreekantan Nair
 Lankeswaran – a play by the award-winning Tamil cinema actor R. S. Manohar
 Kecak - a Balinese traditional folk dance which plays and tells the story of Ramayana

Exhibitions[edit]
  Gallery Nucleus: Ramayana Exhibition -Part of the art of the book Ramayana: Divine
Loophole by Sanjay Patel.
 The Rama epic: Hero. Heroine, Ally, Foe by The Asian Art Museum.

Books[edit]
 Ramayana by C. Rajagopalachari
 The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan